Fuel efficiency regulations cost lives and money
By Mary Katherine Ascik
web posted September 2, 2002
That new car you just bought may be a threat to your health -
and even your life - thanks to Corporate Average Fuel Economy
(CAFE) standards. These federal rules are responsible for
thousands of needless deaths and injuries. Not only that, CAFE
standards make it difficult for many Americans to afford safe
cars.
The CAFE program was established by Congress in 1975.
Current CAFE standards require motor vehicle manufacturers'
fleets of cars to average 27.5 miles per gallon of gasoline and
their fleets of light trucks (which include minivans and SUVs) to
average 20.7 miles per gallon.1 The only affordable way for
automakers to meet these standards is to reduce the mass and
weight of their vehicles.2
This reduction has had deadly consequences. According to a
study by the National Research Council (NRC), reductions in
vehicle mass and weight necessary to meet CAFE standards
increase the risk of death or serious injury in crashes. The NRC
study found that vehicle downsizing and downweighting resulted
in between 1,300 and 2,600 deaths and between 13,000 and
26,000 serious injuries in 1993 alone.3 A USA Today report,
using data from the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, estimated that 46,000 people - nearly as many
Americans as lost their lives in the Vietnam War - have died
since 1975 as a result of the vehicle downsizing and
downweighting due to CAFE standards.4
CAFE standards have also been responsible for several hundred
thousand injuries. African-Americans should be particularly
concerned about these dangers because motor vehicle crashes
are the leading cause of death for black children.5
CAFE standards also make it harder for people to purchase
cars. To meet fuel efficiency requirements, automakers must sell
a certain number of small (read: fuel efficient) cars. But to induce
consumers to purchase these small cars, automakers must sell
them at little more than their production cost.6 To recover the
profits lost through the sale of these small cars, automakers must
raise the prices of larger cars and light trucks. In short, according
to environmental policy expert Charli Coon of The Heritage
Foundation, "CAFE standards act as a tax on larger, safer cars
that is used in turn to subsidize sales of smaller, less safe cars that
get more miles per gallon."7
This de facto tax on larger cars and light trucks essentially
discriminates against people who have lower incomes, larger
families, need a larger vehicle or just want to own a safer car.
African-Americans are particularly affected, since their incomes
tend to be lower than those of whites.8
CAFE standards make today's small cars smaller than ever,
making them more dangerous than when the CAFE program
was established in 1975.9 Since smaller cars are more
dangerous, collision insurance for small cars is now more
expensive than for larger cars and light trucks. Small, cheap cars
also depreciate more quickly and can be easily damaged even in
minor accidents.10
In the 27 years since they were established, CAFE standards
have not only taken a toll on consumers' lives, health and wallets;
they have also failed to accomplish the goals for which they were
created - reducing U.S. gasoline consumption and dependence
on foreign oil. Since CAFE standards were established in 1975,
oil imports have increased from approximately 35 percent of
supply to 52 percent.11 Although fuel efficiency has improved,
this improvement has encouraged people to drive more. Hence,
CAFE has had little success in reducing overall fuel usage.12
CAFE is a failed government program that has had deadly and
costly consequences for thousands of Americans, and it places
those with lower incomes at particular risk. It's time to repeal
CAFE standards and put safety first.
Footnotes:
1 Charli E. Coon, J.D., "Why The Government's CAFE
standards for Fuel Efficiency Should Be Repealed, Not
Increased," Backgrounder #1458, The Thomas A. Roe Institute
for Economic Policy Studies, The Heritage Foundation,
Washington, DC, downloaded from
http://www.heritage.org/library/backgrounder/bg1458.html on
June 5, 2002.
2 "Death By The Gallon," USA Today, July 2, 1999,
downloaded from
http://www.serve.com/commonpurpose/news/cafeusatoday.html
on June 5, 2002.
3 Effectiveness and Impact of Corporate Average Fuel
Economy (CAFE) Standards, Committee on the Effectiveness
and Impact of Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE)
Standards, Board on Energy and Environmental Systems,
Transportation Research Board, National Research Council,
National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, downloaded
from http://books.nap.edu/books/0309076013/html/77.html on
June 4, 2002.
4 "Death by the Gallon"
5 "The Facts To Buckle Up America: Seat Belts and African
Americans - 2000 Report," National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington,
DC, downloaded from
http:
//www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/airbags/buckleplan/seatbeltsa
fro-american.index.html on June 13, 2002.
6 "Death by the Gallon"
7 Coon.
8 Tables H-3A and H-3B, "Historical Income Tables -
Household," U.S. Census Bureau, U. S. Department of
Commerce, Washington, DC, downloaded from
http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/h03ax1.html and
http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/h03bx1.html on June
12, 2002.
9 "CAFE Standards Cost Lives," National Center for Policy
Analysis, Dallas, Texas, downloaded from
http:/www.ncpa.org/pd/regulat/regf.html#F2 on June 5, 2002.
(Original source cited as "Silent Killer," Investor's Business
Daily, January 30, 1996.)
10 "Death by the Gallon" and "Downsizing Cars Kills" National
Center for Policy Analysis, Dallas, Texas, downloaded from
http://www.ncpa.org/pd/regulat/oct97d.html on June 5, 2002.
(Original source cited as Eric Peters, "Wake Up and Smell the
CAFE," Investor's Business Daily, October 28, 1997.)
11 Coon.
12 "Environmental Briefing Book Issue Brief: Automobile Fuel
Economy Standards," Competitive Enterprise Institute,
Washington, DC, March 1, 1999, downloaded from
http://www.cei.org/EBBReader.asp?ID=724 on June 10, 2002.
Mary Katherine Ascik is a Research Associate of The National
Center for Public Policy Research (http:
//www.nationalcenter.org), a Washington, D.C. think tank.
Comments may be sent to MAscik@nationalcenter.org.
Enter Stage Right - http://www.enterstageright.com